4FRNT skis brings the Gold Home to Utah.

AuthorStewart, Heather
PositionAround Utah

South Salt Lake--The 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi introduced the world to two freeskiing events: halfpipe and slopestyle. The men's halfpipe gold medalist, David Wise, captured the top prize on skis designed by a Utah company, 4FRNT SKI, a pioneer in the developing sport of freeskiing.

4FRNT was founded in 2002 by Matthew Sterbenz, a professional skier who was dissatisfied with the skis available to him. As a freeskier, Sterbenz was interested in pushing the boundaries of the traditional ski experience--instead of trying to get down the slope as fast as possible, he wanted to be able to perform jumps and tricks, as well as maneuver in the backcountry.

At the time, the sport of skiing had lost a lot of participants to snowboarding. "There just wasn't much excitement in skiing," says Sterbenz. "We believed that if we had control over the ski shapes. skiers would stick with skis and not turn to snowboards."

Freestyle skis have a wider shape, a turned-up back tip and a radius that allows the ski to turn on its own.

Sterbenz "assembled the company around a group of peers, competitors." In fact, 4FRNT is a rider-owned and operated company. At first, it produced its skis in a U.S. snowboard manufacturing plant, but after a few years, the company moved its production to a large European plant. All of the design and prototyping is done in 4FRNT's South Salt Lake location--and product testing is done in the local canyons. "We claim Alta as our backyard," says Sterbenz.

In late 2011, the company entered into a sponsorship agreement with skier...

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